Peaceful protests for Palestinian rights seek new modalities, but fail to translate their ideas into action.

For 10 years, human rights groups in various countries across the
‘civilized’ world have organized annual Israeli
Apartheid Weeks to raise public awareness about Israel’s policies
toward the Palestinians. This year’s Apartheid Week just
finished in the United States and Canada, and last Monday it
launched across Europe.

The ongoing crisis in Syria has rather put the Apartheid Week in
the shadows for the past two years, for obvious reasons. This
year’s event isn’t likely to be much of a breakthrough either.
Nevertheless, it’s already got the Left in Western countries
abuzz with enthusiasm. Activists are organizing street marches
and photo exhibits, sponsoring public assemblies and panel
discussions, creating advocacy websites and web communities,
printing tons of promotional materials, setting up action groups
to boycott Israeli goods and services and even visiting
professors from Israel, etc. This may not translate into tangible
results, but it is fun, and it makes the activists feel like they
are part of a historic, worldwide effort.

Notably, such awareness weeks do not register in countries that
have been truly supportive of the Palestinians and their cause
for many years, such as Iran, Syria, Greece, Russia, Venezuela,
and Cuba. Apartheid Weeks are similarly nonexistent in Turkey,
which has backed the Palestinians since 2010 by way of
confronting Israel with scathing political statements, and
dispatching medics and medical supplies to Palestine.

Activists in the West are superb at staging spectacular rallies
and other events, complete with many thousands of protesters, and
with mass production of Palestinian pins, scarves and posters.
However, those cheerful gatherings are not even capable of
raising money to support the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza
strip, let alone address any of their essential grievances.

These well-meaning street actions are fun, but they are
practically useless. This is the tactic the West has come up
since the fall of the USSR. The Soviets used to train, treat and
supply Palestinian freedom fighters, but they never indulged in
handing out keffiyeh (Arab scarves) to show support.

Visual persuasion

Still, the do-gooders’ storm in a teacup has produced some value
over the years, after all.

Meet Michal Vexler, a UK-based Jewish artist, whose series of
posters vividly depict the plight of the Palestinian people, and
capture the insanity of Israel’s policies.

Vexler has participated in numerous actions in support of the
Palestinians. It all culminated in his expulsion from Israel,
where he had gone as part of a multinational human rights
campaign protesting the Gaza blockade.

Vexler did most of his posters years ago, but they only became
widely known recently, thanks to the advent of social media.

Nationality of children matters

This poster shows the difference in the legal status of
12-year-old children. A Jew is supposed to wait for a court
ruling on his or her arrest for up to 12 hours, while a
Palestinian will have to spend four days. This period could be
extended if the person presents a ‘threat to Israeli
security’. A lawyer shall visit a Jew within two days; a
Palestinian could wait up to 90 days. An investigation into the
actions of a Jew shall take no longer than 40 days; the period is
extended to 60 in the case of a Palestinian. Jewish children
under 14 cannot be held accountable in court, while 90 percent of
Palestinian children in jails are under 12. If a Jewish child is
14, the waiting time for a trial cannot exceed more than six
months. A Palestinian child could spend up to 12 months waiting
for criminal proceedings; if he or she is a ‘security
threat’, the term will be extended to 18 months. Four out of
five Jews will be freed without any investigation or trial, while
only 13 percent of Palestinians may be as lucky. Only 4.5 percent
of Jewish delinquents under 14 are prosecuted, while 90 percent
of Palestinian 12-year-old delinquents are certain to end up in
jail.

Classifying Palestinians

A total of 1,413,500 Palestinians reside within a zone occupied
back in 1948. As citizens of Israel, they enjoy the same rights
to vote and move as Jewish citizens, but their rights are not
respected. They are barred from visiting the Palestinian
Authority, even if they are journalists. They can’t go to most of
the countries in the Middle East, either.

Two hundred and eight thousand Palestinians reside in East
Jerusalem occupied in 1967. They cannot leave the country, they
cannot even go anywhere beyond East Jerusalem. They have no
citizenship, only a resident permit.

A further 2,361,000 Palestinians live in the West Bank. They have
no citizenship, they are not allowed to travel within the West
Bank.

The Gaza Strip is home to 1,562,000 Palestinians. They have no
citizenship, are cut off from the rest of Palestine and endure a
fully-fledged blockade.

There are 1,980,000 refugees, 436,000 of whom were displaced and
now live in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. Four hundred and
eighty-seven thousand are considered to be refugees without
citizenship by the UN. They are not allowed to visit the lands
where they or their ancestors were born.

Water

Palestinians receive only 20 percent of the water resources, even
though the major part of the water supply underlies the West
Bank. A third of this water supply gets lost due to outworn
pipes, which cannot be fixed because there’s no connection
between the Palestinian settlements. The Jewish population gets
the other 80 percent.

Palestinians aren’t allowed to build new cisterns to collect
water. Israeli settlers commandeer most of water streams and
brooks for their own use.

Jewish residents consume 242 liters of water per person daily.
Palestinians: 37 to 100 liters, depending on the particular
settlement.

Feel like a seaside vacation?

You’re a resident of an Israeli settlement, and you feel like
going to the coast? Just go ahead.

You’re a Palestinian and you feel like going to the seaside as
well? You’ve never participated in any dodgy activities, you’re
healthy and loyal, none of your family members have been
imprisoned, wounded, or killed, or have participated in rallies
or had their homes destroyed? Then, after several years of red
tape and waiting you may get a one-day pass for a trip to the
seaside, valid for 14 to 30 days.

I’ve never met such a person among Palestinians.

Justice

40 per cent of male Palestinians have been arrested by Israeli
army at least once. Family visits are not allowed for over 3.000
Palestinian prisoners (more than two thirds as of 2011).

Israel captures 276 Palestinians monthly.

During the Second Intifada of 2000, Israeli forces arrested
28.000 Palestinians, which equals to the population of Ramallah.

Two hundred Palestinians are held in Israeli prisons without
charge or trial. Most of them have been put in there by order of
the security services. They have no protection. Their cases are
considered secret and are not for public disclosure.

How all these illustrations can be used is unclear. You could
place these posters all over the UN premises, but still the
organization is unlikely to come up with a solution.

Surprisingly, there are a lot of former soldiers, intelligence
officers and lawyers among these activists, but this mass that
takes part in the Apartheid Weeks has no plan or strategy how to
influence Israel or their own governments.

However, thanks to long-term efforts of such enthusiasts,
including those in Israel, Palestinian issue is becoming better
documented and illustrative, like a revolutionary poster....

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.